Justice meets the masses at Montreal’s municipal court

“Access to justice” can mean many things, and can depend on cost, complexity, delays or unenforceability; too often, there is a suspicion that courts fail to deliver justice to those who appear before them.

MONTREAL — “Access to justice” can mean many things, and can depend on cost, complexity, delays or unenforceability; too often, there is a suspicion that courts fail to deliver justice to those who appear before them.

The majority of people experience the legal system at the real cutting edge, whether it be through traffic infractions, minor crimes, family law, vagrancy, or drug misuse. Their experience can lead them to see courts as places where punishment is meted out mechanically, where people can repeatedly find themselves at odds with the law and yet get no real help.

Montreal’s Municipal Court is challenging such notions. At the front lines of this city’s justice system, it hears cases ranging from traffic violations to domestic violence; it sees those who suffer from mental illness and elderly people who have been abused; it encounters offenders who have become trapped in the net of the criminal justice system.

This court, headquartered on Gosford St. in Old Montreal, has actively enhanced and embraced some innovative approaches in recent years. Its objective is not to punish offenders, but to help them better integrate in their communities and stay out of court in the future.

The court has developed expertise in dealing with both offenders and victims. Many of the accused need counselling, a place to live, a job, or training, and the court tries to see what can be done. The focus is to help the person get better, not just mete out punishment.

It is the sum of many differences, however, that make the success story of which the court and, indeed, Montreal itself, can be proud.

Judges: The court has a roster of 32 dedicated judges, most of whom have had extensive experience before the courts, either as prosecutors or defenders. They have a deep understanding not only of the applicable law, but also of the many factors that might have led the accused individuals to appear before them. For these judges, serving on the bench is more of a calling than merely a career. They apply the law, to be sure, but their additional commitment is to serve the best interests of the accused, as well as the community at large. All of the judges are bilingual, reflecting the diversity of a metropolitan city. In the past few years, the court, which might well have been criticized as one consisting of white men with white hair (a criticism often levelled at courts), has achieved a gender and ethnic makeup that is more reflective of Montreal’s diversity. Interpreters are on hand each day to provide free services in more than 100 languages and dialects.

Accessibility: The court sits in several locations for the convenience of those affected. It maintains courtrooms in Pointe-Claire, the east end, St-Laurent and Lachine; cases are assigned automatically to the area in which the accused resides. To minimize disruptions to someone called before the court, such as missing work, the court also holds evening sessions.

Extra advice: The court has arranged, notably with the Young Bar Association, the Association of Defence Lawyers and the Bar of Montreal, to provide a volunteer lawyer each day to help the accused make informed decisions, particularly as to the consequences of pleading guilty. Before this advice was made available three or four years ago, many accused would simply plead guilty to minor offences. Since there is often no real likelihood of prison, it can seem simpler, cheaper, and quicker to plead guilty. But pleading guilty comes with serious consequences. A criminal record puts many career opportunities beyond reach and limits the right to travel to other countries, including the United States. Access to legal counsel helps ensure an accused person fully understands those consequences before entering a guilty plea.

Expediency: Every morning, Crown prosecutors, case workers and court officials meet to discuss the day’s cases. They determine whether charges can be withdrawn, whether sentences can be suspended and a variety of other possible remedies. Cases are separated between penal and criminal, in accordance with the gravity of offences involved. The high degree of cooperation and trust between Crown prosecutors and defence counsel helps speed things along. As a result, the court is able to handle well over 100,000 cases each year, of which between 15,000 and 20,000 are criminal. Delays in the trial process have shrunk over the past couple of years to a few short months from the time parties are ready to proceed, far less than in many of the higher courts, where such delays can be measured in years.

Mental illness: Some socially unacceptable conduct may be the outcome of mental illness. The court recognizes this. Specialized judges meet every afternoon, five days a week, to discuss the best manner of dealing with such cases. The court also has a team of dedicated Crown prosecutors who specialize in these cases. Case workers with years of experience are on hand, including a permanent on-site doctor at the Gosford St. headquarters, where all such cases are centered, to assist with the evaluation and disposition of cases involving mental illness and to find ways of delivering the essential care that the individuals require.

The elderly: The percentage elderly people is rapidly increasing. Quite apart from the many other impacts of this phenomenon, the elderly can be particularly vulnerable to threats, fraud, unauthorized use of their credit cards, manipulation and physical or sexual abuse. The court has developed a specialized division to deal with abuse of the elderly that is unique in Quebec, including assistance to bring the elderly to court, to explain the process and to reassure them that they will be able to tell their stories.

Voluntary programs: One of the many innovations developed by the court is the opportunity for accused individuals to enrol in voluntary programs that will lead to changes in their conduct and attitudes, including Programme Ève (dealing with theft and shoplifting by women) and Point Final (for drivers repeatedly charged with impaired driving). There are also special programs to deal with offences related to domestic violence, the homeless and mental health. These are not easy programs, but those who enrol and pursue them to completion can have charges dropped or receive conditional or unconditional discharges.

Conduct change is the real objective. Someone who is homeless and charged with vagrancy may be fined or even imprisoned, but is still homeless at the end of the process. He will be back in front of the court again and again unless he learns how to live on his own. If his conduct can change, everyone involved will be better off and the social costs will be reduced. If someone charged with domestic violence can learn anger management and other techniques, it will be more likely that the individual will not be back in court in the future. If someone with a medical or drug problem can learn to stay off drugs (or to stay on prescribed medication), behavioural issues that led to charges can be controlled.

The programs have enjoyed a remarkable degree of success, measured mainly by the fact that many offenders do not re-appear.

The origins of some of the programs stretch back a number of years. For example, those dealing with women and theft, domestic violence and recidivist impaired driving started in the 1980s, originally at the impetus of Crown prosecutors and defence counsel. The judiciary of the time tended to be essentially reactive, but in recent years, much of it under the leadership of chief judge Morton Minc, the court has become much more proactive, firmly adopting and coordinating a new philosophical approach of trying to find solutions to the underlying problems that have brought offenders before the court.

It is the court and its judges who now provide the leadership and guidance for the activities, and encouraged the newer specialties of dealing with the homeless, the mentally ill and the elderly, giving the programs a vibrancy that did not exist before the court became directly involved. It is the court’s embracing of the programs that include specialized Crown prosecutors, legal aid workers, case workers, defence lawyers, university expertise and pro bono lawyers that provided the real springboard to enhanced service to the community.

In a recent appearance at the court, an individual charged with vagrancy had completed a program that helped him make the move to living in a rented home. He did this for several months, to the point that he was able to live on his own. The presiding judge, Bernard Mandeville (a former federal Crown prosecutor) advised the accused that the many charges he faced were to be dropped, not, he said, as a gift from the court, but because of the individual’s own efforts to change his life. The judge signed a certificate of accomplishment and presented it to the accused, almost as if it were a graduation exercise — which, in many respects, was exactly what it meant for the recipient, who appeared to leave the courtroom with a renewed sense of self-worth.

That same day in one of the main courtrooms, presiding judge Richard Chassé managed the Crown prosecutors, defence counsel and other court officials with patience, tact and firmness during several preliminary proceedings. Even more important was his concern that each accused knew exactly what was happening and understood the next steps. He would ask them directly if they understood, and if they didn’t he made certain that their counsel explained matters right then and there.

In yet another courtroom the same day, a man charged with repeat offences of driving under the influence of alcohol was given the opportunity to enter a voluntary program to help wean him off such behaviour. His driver’s licence was suspended, but he was offered the opportunity to complete a program and thus avoid a jail sentence. The Crown prosecutor, public defender, social worker and the judge, Richard Stark, all agreed on the conditions of the program and the date on which the accused would re-appear after completing the program. Failure to abide by all the conditions would have him back in court much sooner and without the benefit of suspending the full effects of a conviction on the charges.

For victims of crime, support is offered each day through CAVAC (Centre d’aide aux victims d’actes criminels) by persons trained to deal with the related trauma, both physical and mental.

The Montreal Municipal Court is a court of first instance, but a very important court, not only because of the range of matters coming before it, but also because the vast majority of people who come into contact with the justice system do so at that level. It may, in fact, be the only encounter they ever have with the justice system. If they can come away from the experience with a confidence that justice has been rendered (not merely compliance with the letter of some law they have probably never read), it will provide a confidence that the justice system is, indeed, just, and a residual level of comfort in the society that has produced that outcome.

When all is said and done, a group of committed judges, court officials, case workers, medical personnel and volunteers have accomplished minor miracles in bringing the court to the people, making it more accessible and human, putting a face on justice and transforming conduct. It is small wonder that judges of the court are often invited to speak about the Montreal experience in other, even in foreign, jurisdictions as the latter search for means to make their own justice more accessible.

There is nothing more convincing than hands-on experience backed by positive results, and Montreal has that in spades.

Richard W. Pound, Q.C., Ad.E. is a Montreal lawyer and Chancellor Emeritus of McGill University

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